Texas Rangers Blog

Rangers’ take on A.J. Pierzynski’s All-Star snub comments

CHICAGO – In Chicago, the swirling All-Star story Tuesday was on how C A.J. Pierzynski got snubbed by Rangers manager Ron Washington.

Washington opted to choose Minnesota’s Joe Mauer as a third catcher and the Twins’ lone All-Star representative, thus leaving Pierzynski, who is having a strong year, off the team. After he announced his roster, Washington said the one person he felt bad for was Pierzynski.

Pierzynski, who chummed up to Washington while serving as a guest TV analyst during last year’s postseason, wasn’t buying it.

“If he felt that bad, he would have put me on the team,” Pierzynski told Chicago reporters. “He had an opportunity to do it and he didn’t do it. He can feel as bad as he wants, but he obviously didn’t feel that bad.”

On Tuesday, Washington was asked about Pierzynski’s reaction.

“I was asked a question [Sunday] and I said what I said about A.J. and it came from the heart,” Washington said. “Other than that I don’t really have a comment about it.”

Nor did All-Star starter Mike Napoli. When told that Napoli was a good hitter by a media member, Pierzynski reportedly sniped: “Yeah, if you consider .230 good.”

Napoli declined to comment on the matter Tuesday and on the possibility of catching former teammate C.J. Wilson in the All-Star Game. Wilson irked Napoli this spring by tweeting one of his cell phone numbers in what Wilson called a “prank.”

The truth is that if Pierzynski has a gripe, it’s with his fellow players, who recently voted him the “Most Hated Player” in the majors in an anonymous poll conducted by Men’s Journal. The fans vote, which determines the starters, is largely done on popularity. The players’ vote, which determines backups, is supposed to be based on merit. Baltimore’s Matt Weiters, who began Tuesday hitting .247 with a .333 OBP, won that vote.

To choose a third catcher, Washington had a choice between Pierzynski and Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, but the Twins were without a representative at that point. Washington could chosen another Twins player, Josh Willingham, but the manager’s desire to put Rangers SS Elvis Andrus on the team, eliminated much flexibility on his bench. And Andrus, hitting .307 with a .795 OPS (second-best among AL shortstops) certainly was as deserving of a spot as Pierzynski.

And while we’re at it, let’s just say this: This is a lot of whining about nothing. The chances of the third catcher playing in the All-Star game don’t seem great. I assume Washington will use Napoli for four or five innings and Wieters for the rest. He’ll hold Mauer out in case there is an injury to one of the catchers.